http://korean.sogang.ac.kr/
http://eng.teenkorean.net/

First!

Aaaargh crap! Not again!

I’ve never met Matt or Gord Sellar, though I frequently comment on Matt’s blog, and I haven’t read Outlanders at all, for whatever that’s worth. I get accused of stuff all the time and I resist responding no matter how strong the urge. This comment itself is more than I usually write, and it’s probably all I will.

I was referring to a piece written by Matt (Gusts of Popular Feeling) in the book Outlanders that was backed up by Gord Sellar, two writers I trust, of the “Kushibo Scandal” of 2006. If it’s not the same Kushibo, then I apologize.

Regarding english teachers as targets. If Koreans tried to pull this 1933 germany race baiter stuff on the 3D workers, I don’t think they’d get away with it for long. English teachers, however, are perfect targets to scapegoat. White, college (university!) educated and “rich”. The perception (largely true), if you don’t like it you can get on a plane and return to Canada and your free healthcare. You know? It’s like when Joan Rivers used to make fun of Elizabeth Taylor. Rivers defense for her nasty jokes was always “she’s famous, she’s rich, she can’t take it?”

To wit, not many NGOs are ever going to waste time drawing attention to the plight of the educated middle class whitey.

The metropolitician had a totally awesome point, I thought. If foreign english teachers treat Korea like their playground it’s because Korean males have created the playground for themselves. They drink. We drink. They chase skirts. We chase skirts. They wager over cards (gostop). We wager over cards (poker).

He also had a great point that E2 teachers who have been fucked around by their hagwon are going home with bad stories about Korea. As these E2 teachers work their way up the ranks in the work world, they might be in a position one day to steer business away from Korea. “No way, deal with Japan. The Koreans will rip you off. Let me tell you about contract culture there…” For example, at my work, we were looking for a way to get some animation done. Of course Korea is the place to go for cheap animation work. If I had been ripped off by my hagwon I would have warned my boss not to deal with Korea. (I had always been fairly treated.)

If you google on korea and contracts the first hit that comes up reads:

Instead, Koreans tend to view contracts as infinitely flexible and subject to further negotiation. Furthermore, the written contract is not the real contract; rather, the unwritten, oral agreement with an employer is the real contract. You should bear these factors in mind when you sign a contract.

(sounds familiar?)

It’s an english teaching site but if I was a business person, I might take that as a red flag. It’s pretty sad, in a way, when the first hit on these terms warns you about Koreans and their ability or desire to honor contracts.

As Joe intimated you could well have fake people trying to friend you to see what you’re up to. That does seem terribly inefficient (errr then again, this is korea). And it would seem suspicious if the facebook account has friended 180 whiteys. Of course it would be terribly fun if it were true. You could set up a “honey pot”. Set up a fake account, make it clear some illegal activity (making porn!) was going on, and give the addy as the VANK office or something.